A fascinating programme from an eclectic musician of refined taste and eloquence.Not only on the piano but in his short conversation with Elena Vorotko he showed off the same charm and remarkable scholarship that we had heard in a very stimulating and informative programme.

Adam who after a two year absence from the concert platform is making his return to the Keyboard with style and aristocratic bearing.
Born in Hong Kong of Nigerian Filipino descent with early success at the BBC Young Musician of the year in 2018.He graduated from the RAM under that master trainer of so many fine musicians,Christopher Elton, followed by a masters degree at Cambridge.He is also a conductor and composer but his piano career was halted for two years when struck down unexpectedly with tendonitis.

This concert marks his come back to the concert stage as a pianist and Christopher Elton and many other distinguished guests were there to applaud him and to witness his complete recovery.
A sold out Steinway Hall for the Keyboard Trust with an audience that was treated to refined performances in a voyage of discovery of works from the completely neglected to the ridiculously overplayed!

As Adam said in his fascinating post concert conversation:’a musician should be able to master the great works of the repertoire as well as delving into the archives to find inexplicably neglected works of great value.’

And so it was with a Schumann Arabesque flowing so simply with great attention to the bass harmonies that gave such depth and freshness to this most radiant of pieces.The ravishing beauty of the coda astonishing us by its intimate intensity.

It led immediately into four short pieces by Adam of beguiling charm and character.
‘Why did he include Vaughan Williams?’asked Elena .’The simple answer is because it is his 150th anniversary year ‘ Adam replied with knowledgeable charm,’but also because there is a considerable amount of piano music by him that is totally ignored’.

And so it was with the same charm and delight in discovery that he shared the Suite of Six Short Pieces with us.
Thomas Arne too much of whose music was destroyed in the great fire at Drury Lane but there survived a considerable amount of Keyboard works of which the 3rd Sonata is only one of eight.Written in 1756 the year that Mozart was born it is a piece that could easily be confused for Scarlatti with its keyboard brilliance and sense of dance.
Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint Georges will have us delving deep into the archives to find information about a composer whose Adagio in F minor was of a disarming simplicity and poignant charm.

Of course Chopin’s First Ballade hardly needed any explanation.
But in Adam Heron’s virgin hands it received a performance of refreshing simplicity.An aristocratic performance of great breadth and grandeur together with a touching simplicity.
It was shorn of all the rhetoric when used as a vehicle for virtuosistic showmanship.Instead Adam gave us a spacious reading where Chopin’s own words were allowed to speak without any unnecessary indulgences.

I heard Adam also in 2019. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2019/03/27/adam-heron-at-st-mary-at-hill/

A recital that was like opening a window to let in a blast of fresh air with a true musician of such charm and scholarship at the helm.
The recital will be streamed live at a later date on the Keyboard Trust you tube channel via their website :keyboard trust.org